The Global System Operators Association (GSMA) report found that sub-Saharan Africa has the largest mobile broadband and data coverage gap. The data are not encouraging despite the improvements in recent years encouraged by Covid-19.

According to the GSMA study "The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2021", last year the mobile Internet penetration rate was 28% in the region, compared to a mobile penetration rate of 46%. The association attributes this gap to the high cost of the smartphone, whose penetration rate is 48%.

That document clarifies that of the 1,084 million people assessed in the region, 303 million (28%) were connected, 206 million had no coverage by a mobile network (19%), and 575 million people (53%) lived in areas covered by mobile broadband networks but did not yet use mobile Internet services.

The low-income countries included in the survey were Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Algeria, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Guatemala. Mobile data was the least affordable in the sub-Saharan countries: the average cost as a proportion of monthly GDP per capita was about 4%.

In this regard, a report by the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) 2020 revealed that the average price of a smartphone in Africa is $62. This is equivalent to 62.8% of monthly gross national income per capita.

Among the countries where a smartphone is expensive, according to A4AI, is Sierra Leone ($265), Burundi ($52), Niger ($60). Botswana is one of the cheapest countries, at around $26.

The coronavirus pandemic has increased the need for high-speed connectivity and smartphones on the African continent. US-based International Data Corporation (IDC) found in its Quarterly Global Mobile Phone Tracker that overall cell phone shipments in the African market fell by 6% Y/Y in Q3 2020. Shipments of conventional phones (basic phones that may or may not include multimedia features) fell by 11.2% A/A to 29.4 million units, while smartphone sales increased by 1.6% A/A to 22.9 million units.

The GSMA and A4AI believe that the high cost of smartphones, which delays mobile broadband internet access for many people, can hinder their participation in the digital economy. Therefore, the entities suggest that universal access and service funds that focus their efforts on the deployment of broadband infrastructure. In addition, they suggest revising their approach to include the accessibility of mobile devices, including smartphones.